Today’s simply lovely wedding comes to us from Leo Patrone, and it’s one more wedding that proves you don’t have to go all out with details to create a beautiful and special day. Says the bride:

Years ago I wanted a big wedding with hundreds of people there to make me feel special. As I’ve grown older, I realized that it is about the quality of people, not the quantity. If you keep it small, your guests will appreciate the intimacy of your wedding and be honored they were included. Our budget wasn’t big but did allow us to splurge on each person because we only had 50 people.

Debbie and Mitch didn’t let a little rain get in the way of taking beautiful photos!

Why did you choose Blue Hill at Stone Barns for your wedding? We wanted our closest friends and family to celebrate with us in an intimate, beautiful and natural setting. We had never been to a wedding with knock-your-socks off food and wanted to create that experience for our guests, many of whom are big foodies.

What was your favorite moment or part of the day? My favorite moment was when I stepped into the room for our ceremony and slowly took in the sight of every person who ever meant something to me. I felt pure love, good will and kindness. It was thrilling, moving and powerful. I took some slow breaths and tried to live in the moment. I hope every person has a chance to experience that!

Did you include any traditions in your wedding? We eschewed traditions and decided to do what made sense to us as a couple. Instead of a cake-cutting, dancing and garter/bouquet toss, we chose to use that time to talk to our guests and create a personal experience since many of them had traveled across the country to be there. We reserved dancing, mingling and noshing at a food truck for the next night with a big party in Manhattan which allowed us a second night of celebrating with our nearest and dearest!

What advice do you have for other brides? Your wedding does not need to be the most fun, beautiful, extravagant or unique. The details are not as important as you make them out to be. Most people will forget the wedding decor and details. They will only remember if they had a great time and the feeling you shared with them while celebrating. (And one very practical bit of advice:) If you’re doing an iPod wedding, set the music to cross-fade so that there aren’t awkward 5-second pauses in between songs for the dancing.